neXus 5
by prrrowr
Summary: *New chapters posted!* Lydecker goes all out in an attempt to capture the rogue X5's. But will his plan work? How will Max get out of this one?
1. Default Chapter

She sat, head on knees, her back against the wall.   
  
Funny how I always seem to be in this position, she thought darkly.   
  
Thoughts whipped wildly through her mind, lingering, fleeting.. What had she done? Why? Oh God.. She sat motionless, muscles tensed into knots of steel, and waited for the chaos in her head to take on some shape, some reason.. Slowly her ragged breathing became more regular..   
  
Was it that important, her life? At what cost was she keeping her secret? Keeping her freedom? Who was paying the price for her desire to live- and more crucially- to live emancipated from Manticore chains? She felt sick. All those people, they had wanted to live just as badly as she.. what gave her the right? The right to choose her life over theirs? Did the fact that her life was wrought out of the sweat and death of others count? Did she owe her life to those who gave their lives so that she might exist, did she owe it to them to continue living? Was she granted immunity, excused from her actions? Was she retroactively paying their price? Or was her continued existence possible only through more sacrifice?   
They were not engineered biological miracles, not the fruit of marvelous technological advances, yet.. they were marvelous, individual slices of life, living beings as irreplaceable as she..   
  
A tortured moan escaped her lips..   
  
Onto the next phase of our little experiment, Max thought sarcastically. Let us study the killing machine as it grapples with morality..   
  
Always be prepared for extreme situations, accomplish the objective at all cost.. These had been hammered into her and the echoes still rang, but now the ringing had become a terrible sound. Her soul resonated, nearly rending apart within her chest..   
  
I have failed! Failed.. I thought escaping was enough, the objective was to survive, to live, but now.. now.. She gasped, floundered, desperately searching for some stronghold, some beacon..   



	2. 2

  
Some time before...   
------------------------------------   
  
Logan sat at his desk, gazing intensely into the computer screen. Max crept up behind him.   
  
"Ready?" She spoke softly, but he jumped anyway. A small, satisfied smile panned across Max's face. Logan glanced at her almost blindly, absently, and turned back to the screen. A bluish glow illuminated his face. Her smile faded. Small lines on his face were visible, the circles under his eyes made more obvious by the lighting. Not that these small changes had gone unnoticed.. She felt a pang of apprehension.. she had been feeling these frequently, as he gradually became thinner, more distant. She didn't know how to approach him. Their usual friendly banter hadn't been working lately, it only seemed to drive him further inside. She was at a loss of what to say. Or more honestly, she couldn't bring herself to say ..   
  
She sighed. "Logan?"   
  
"Yeah? What. .. Oh. Right, I just lost track of time here.. I'll be done in a sec.."   
The keys continued clicking.   
  
She stood up straight.   
"Logan, you have to stop. You keep staring at that screen for so long, your eyes are gonna burn out! 'Hands Only' - creative, but just doesn't have the same ring.. "   
  
He smirked, and cracked his knuckles at her. "People have told me that some of my broadcasts were Touching.. "   
  
She felt hopeful, and pressed on. "Great, now that you have a Feel for what I'm talking about, go get ready! We're late!" He smiled and turned, this time looking her in the eyes.   
  
"Are you sure you want me to stop? I've just finally gotten into some Level 2 files of a certain military project that rhymes with Antikore.. But if you aren't interested.."   
  
"Movie, shmoovie. What'd you find?" She eagerly read the display..   
  
"Check this out. Funding cut off completely in 2009. Apparently there was one more successful group after yours, the X-10's. Doesn't mention anything about the 6-9 groups, if they even existed.. Looks like the modern minds of science were too pricey to lure into the project, tempting as it may be I'm sure. Seeing as 82% of the original staff mysteriously disappeared, I'm guessing that any more genetic twiddling was too expensive, and there wasn't enough manpower." Logan advanced a few screens and kept reading.   
  
"Huh. So, we escapees are an investment that never paid off, and they can't make new batches.. I'm guessing Lydecker wants his money back. He probably has some schemes for his supersoldiers that would justify the cost of our creation. At least it explains why he's so bent on recapturing us." Max said thoughtfully. "Any info about my mother, or any of the others?"   
  
"No, nothing like that documented here. These are mostly fiscal reports."   
  
"Well I thank you, InfoPimp. You have outdone yourself again."   
  
Logan raised his eyebrows. Max grinned at him, happy that he seemed to have recovered some sense of humor.   
  
"And what, exactly, does that make you? - Nevermind." He glanced at his watch. "We missed the movie."   
  
"Yeah, well.. We could rent one instead, ..or, go for a walk? Or how 'bout some chess? You nearly beat me last time, maybe tonight's the night hell freezes over.. " she taunted him.   
  
"I've got a better idea!" He was more cheerful than he had been in quite a while; he had that mischievous spark Max had missed. "There is supposed to be a great meteor shower tonight-- we could take some blankets up on the roof, snuggle under the stars, open a bottle of '97 Inniskillen that I.." he trailed off, as Max looked at the floor and shifted uncomfortably.   
" .. I'm not.. I didn't mean.. .. . It's late, don't you think? And I still have a ton of stuff I have to finish before the next brownout.." his eyes dulled, he looked away.   
  
Max stared at him helplessly.   
"Logan, its not that I don't-"   
  
"Max. Please. You have nothing to explain. Its just that I'm really tired, I'll finish up here and then I'm out for the night. You should go, have fun.." He was already typing away, fixed on the screen, his expression unreadable.   
  
She stood awkwardly, a flood of things she wanted to tell him surged through her mind, but she couldn't force them past some invisible barrier.. Her mouth was dry. She hesitated, each second becoming more strained..   
  
"Ok, uh.. if you're tired, I guess.. I'll see you later then.." She couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. The door softly clicked behind her as she walked out.   
Logan laid his head down on his arms.   
  



	3. 3

She stepped out into the damp night, and decided she would rather   
walk home in silence unbroken by the roar of a bike engine. Ever the   
doting mother, she knew her baby would be safe in Logan's underground   
garage. Max set off for her apartment, but as she walked, her path   
became more wandering and aimless. Disintegrating steel structures   
towered dark and unrelenting above her. A thick fog had rolled in,   
muting the few streetlights that were still working. She was glad of   
the coolness in her lungs and nose, she breathed deeply, specters of   
steam curled from her mouth and floated away. She tasted- a light   
salty tang.. she smelled- hints of ocean and urban grit. Soon she   
became tuned in to the sounds of the sleeping city. Somewhere, a   
woman was telling somebody about a pickpocket who had stolen her   
wallet, not that she had much in it anyhow.... further away a   
baby was crying, its forlorn sobs distorting as they rippled through   
space... She could see a man through an apartment window, sitting on   
a child's bed, reading a book together... What must it be like,   
to have someone to read to you? To tuck you in at night, to tell you   
what was right or wrong?   
  
Images of Zach's and Jace's faces surfaced..   
  
Max was gently cupping an immature fledgling, Zach was climbing the tree towards a nest,   
Jace was watching.   
  
"Hurry guys, he's already called us 3 times!" she whispered urgently.   
  
Max reached up to hand the chick to Zach-- the underbrush snapped,   
a man with a cruel face suddenly loomed over them.   
  
"DON'T TRY TO TELL ME YOU DID NOT HEAR THE WHISTLE!" he bellowed.   
  
He surveyed the scene, and without warning, grabbed Max's wrist and   
smashed her hand into the tree trunk. Jace cried out, Lydecker   
backhanded her. She sprawled backwards, and held her   
hands up to her face. As if in a dream, Max slowly looked at her   
hand, still pinned by Lydecker's. Crumpled feathers, blood trickling   
from between her fingers... She was nauseous, she wanted to run,   
she wanted to wipe off her hand.. Zach looked down, his face stricken.   
Max's eyes were reflected in his, tears burning behind the surface,   
but under control, ... under control...   
  
"The weak are meant to die. The smart, the strong, survive."   
Lydecker's voice more than demonstrated his disgust with them. He   
pointed up to the nest, where fuzzy heads were cheeping.   
"They know where they belong; they weren't foolish enough to   
try and leave."   
  
********   
  
Max once again became aware of her surroundings, aware that there was   
a ball of sick, furious rage in her gut...   
Surely, what they were doing hadn't been wrong... She wanted someone   
to tell her that it was right, it was ok, that Lydecker had been   
wrong, but she was only answered by indifferent mumblings of the   
streets.   
She picked up sounds of disturbance, then of distress. She zeroed in   
and walked towards the source.   
  
"Daaavveeeyyy!!" a small girl's voice screamed.   
  
"NO! .. You... Can't!" sounds of struggling, a boy's voice..   
  
She saw a man trying to carry away a young girl, hampered by her   
struggling and kicking. A teenage boy was being held back by another   
man. It could just be a simple family dispute, Max rationalized.   
She should keep walking, this was none of her business..   
  
"No one.. Is taking .. my.. sister!!" he growled, trying to break   
free. The girl was crying now, writhing, dragging her heels on the   
concrete.   
"Come on baby.." the man purred. "We'll break you in nice, not like-"   
Sh**! Max walked closer. This was Logan's area, HE was the masked   
avenger out to rid the world of evil, not her. She didn't even know   
how to tell evil from survival or necessity. It was so much less   
complicated, when she didn't care, when she lived and let live. The   
strongest will survive... .. right?   
  
The girl screamed again, and Max swung into action...   



	4. 4

Max lay on her bed, dozing, taking 15 minute catnaps. She heard the sound of bare feet walking toward her door, then Original Cindy knocked.  
  
"Mmmff." Max mumbled. "Can't a girl get some sleep around here?"  
  
"Well if you wouldn't stay out all damn night, you might get more sleep! Anyway, yo' homeboy is onna phone. Sounds real itchy, I think you should find out whats up."   
  
She heard O.C. walk away. "Yeah, I told her you on the line... I said I told her! If she come or not, is up to her I ain't draggin her tired, kung fu a$$ outta bed, that ain't in Original Cindy's job descripti- Hi Logan." Max's voice cut in, rescuing Logan from Original Cindy's tirade. Cindy shrugged, Max grinned at her.  
  
"Max! God! Just once, can't it be easy to get a hold of you?"  
  
Max rolled her eyes.  
"Please, spare me the parental lecture, I have had more than my share of 'discipline'. What is it now? Got some bomb you want me to go diffuse, or is there a mango sale down at the 3rd Ward Market? I guess I should get there early huh?"  
  
Logan's voice sounded desperate.  
"No! No, don't go outside! You won't believe what Lydecker has done.. Everyone knows about you now, Max. Everyone. It's been on every tv and radio station, in every newspaper.. It seems that Lydecker was fed up with trying to catch the X-5's by himself, and has enlisted the citizens of what's left of this country.. He has billed you as crazed killing machines, genetic military experiments gone AWOL. People are scared s**tless! You are supposedly baby killers now, rapists, raging supersoldiers.. They are hunting you and the others down!"  
  
Max's eyes widened. "Woah.." she breathed. "But how can the normies tell who is Manticore and who isn't?"  
  
"They have instituted barcode checks at the door of every public venue. Bars, markets, hair salons, even bathrooms.. Your picture, and the photos of the others that Lydecker had, have been released.. Everyone's insane Max, they are all on a huge witch hunt! I'm coming over to get you!"  
  
Max didn't protest.  



	5. 5

As soon as she hung up, she ran back to her room, gathering her things. It wasn't without some bitterness that she noted her belongings were already organized for a quick flight, but she was thankful nonetheless. She carried her bags out and set them next to the door.   
  
"You goin somewhere, girl?" Original Cindy asked in shock.   
  
Max looked at her friend, knowing she deserved an explanation. She put her hands on OC's shoulders. "Cindy, I have to disappear for a while.. You will find out why as soon as you leave this apartment.. I.. I don't know if I will see you again. I hope so, but.. " Max trailed off, she swore silently and looked away.. This was much harder than she thought. She didn't want it to go back to the way it used to be, always running, never having anything more than temporary friendships. A sharp knock on the door startled them both. Original Cindy had tears in her eyes. She reached out and hugged Max. Max, to her surprise, held her in return, blinking back her own tears.   
  
She opened the door to find Bling standing there, a wig, dark glasses and oversized coat in his arms. They carried Max's stuff down the many flights of stairs. She already noticed a few people peeking out from behind doors, fear or greed in their eyes. Bling must have caught the looks also, saying "There is a reward out too, higher for live captures.."   
  
They heard whispering, hurried footsteps somewhere above them in the stairway. They ran, slowing to a hasty walk as they left the building so as to not look conspicuous. They tossed Max's bags into the back of the Aztec and Logan took off. Max watched out the rear window, and saw her building door swing open, two armed men emerged and looked around.   
"Logan, what if they saw your car?"   
  
Bling replied "I took off the plates before we left, but I don't think they saw which car you drove away in anyway."   
  
Max was silent as they drove, gazing out the window. She saw lines of people waiting to get into buildings, guards brushing back hair on the back of necks..   
She couldn't believe it! Deck had done the unimaginable, exposed the Manticore project, and she didn't know which was worse, to fall back into his hands, or be at the mercy of mobs and mass hysteria. A pit opened in her stomach, feelings she hadn't felt for quite a while came oozing back.   
Logan watched her in the rearview mirror, and saw a hunted look take form.   
  
"Max, it will be ok.." He tried to sound reassuring, but something in his voice was a tad off. "You can stay with me, we can go live at my cabin until this is all forgotten. You know how short public attention span is.. One week, genetically enhanced killers, next week the price of Asian imports.. "   
  
Max met his eyes in the mirror. "I can't live like this again Logan. I can't hide away in a cabin for who knows how long.. I just wanted a life, my life.." she barely whispered the last part. Logan felt his stomach twist. The confidence, the wisecracks seemed to have melted away, revealing.. something he guessed had been there all along. It had been hidden well, behind all of her armor. One could have almost believed she had forgotten the fear, the toll that Manticore life had taken..   
  
"There is something else. I was searching for somewhere safe, and one of my sources mentioned the Tyrell Corps." Outwardly, Logan tried to maintain a business-like manner.  
  
"The Tyrell Corps? I have heard that name before.. maybe a long time ago.." She searched her memories, but couldn't place the familiarity.   
  
"I didn't have time to research it very well, I can finish when we get to my place."  
  
Max tried to ignore the scene flashing past the car window. A man was being beaten, a crowd had gathered around. Shouts of "Mutant! Killer! Abomination!" floated by, then faded. She didn't recognize him..   



	6. 6

Max seemed to be in her own world as she followed Logan and Bling into the penthouse. She barely noticed as Bling took her bags away, and headed toward the window, climbed out, and perched miles above the city to think and observe.   
  
"I wouldn't exactly consider that normal behavior for us lesser-evolved, Max." Bling said gently. "Someone might happen to look up, and here you are, in the open, fair game for bounty hunters.."  
  
Max ignored him for a minute, then climbed back into the living room and flicked on the TV. "You're right, Bling. Thanks" she said in a low voice.   
I have become soft, unpracticed! she thought to herself. Zach was right.. He thrives in situations like this, and here I am, advertising my presence because I have established a routine, I have begun to take my safety for granted.. Even an untrained normie can do better!  
  
Logan looked on as Max dully watched TV, a gale of emotions churning through him. What could he do? what could he do? Any attempt at comforting her would bring about hostility, enmity against pity. She was certainly in no mood to joke around. And if he told her how he really felt? She would shut him out and run away. Like she always did. He could only offer his help, and hope that she..   
  
"Give it up Cale. There is obviously nothing to hope for here!" he chided himself.   
  
Feeling sick and half dead, he wheeled into his computer office to work on the only things she would accept from him-- information, and gestures of friendship. But nothing more.   
  
Max numbly surfed channel after channel. They were all spotlighting the Manticore project-- How could this have gone on? What were the X-5 soldiers really capable of? Who paid for this? Who was in charge, who is to blame? How could they have escaped into society? One show was detailing heinous crimes of the past 10 years, and attributing them to the X-5s, explaining in detail how only genetically engineered soldiers could have pulled such feats.   
Another show was profiling the average person-on-the-street's experience with or sighting of an X-5.  
"My son brought her home, and I could tell right away that she was no good!" a dour looking woman said contemptuously. "I told him, that woman will bring us nothing but trouble. Soon enough, three pieces of my fine silverware suddenly went missing, and a few weeks later, we found the cat dead under the porch. And even on the hottest days, she would never wear her hair up! Now I know it was because she was hiding a barcode tattoo, I'm sure of it. We're lucky to be alive!"  
  
A nervous looking man was interviewed next. "My cousin's best friend's fiancée, he was nearly killed in cold blood by one of those freaks of nature! He was playin' cards at his local pub, jus like always, and one of them guys at the table was mighty ticked off that he won such a lucky streak. So he pulled a gun, and-"  
Max groaned and flipped the channel.  
The camera panned across an enormous group of people, shouting wildly and throwing things toward some people in the center. Max found it suddenly hard to breathe.. she was riveted on the screen as the camera zoomed in on the center of the horde. She gasped! There, tied up, battered and bleeding, was Lydecker and his top henchmen! A man with a microphone was shouting to the crowd.   
"You, who have put our loved ones and our children in such terrible danger! What have you to say for yourself!" The crowd jeered. Lydecker said nothing. "We hold you responsible for every death, for every vile act your Frankenstein army has committed! Tell us, who did you answer to? It was certainly not the people of this country! The people, who trustingly gave you money to protect us! Tell us, who was in charge?!" The crowd roared in a frenzy.   
Lydecker said slowly, "Madame X."  
  
"And who is this Madame X? Your military code names are of no use to us! What was her real name?"   
  
Lydecker looked at the man, then straight into the cameras. "Renfro" he said clearly, with a cold, satisfied smile.  
  
"And where is she now? Do you have any identifying pictures of her?" the man asked testily.  
  
"No." Lydecker replied curtly. One of his eyes was swollen shut, a projectile bounced off of his forehead, leaving a red gash.  
  
Max sat watching, her mouth open in utter astonishment.  



	7. 7

She was amazed that Deck revealed any information at all. He was certainly trying to re-capture the X-5's at all costs, even exposing the entire Manticore project. But Max took him for a practice-what-you-preach kind of guy, and he had endlessly lectured about putting death before compromising "the objective" or divulging sensitive information. Giving out Renfro's name seemed contrary to everything he lived by. Unless.. She watched closely, his face becoming venomous as he spoke of Madame X. He wanted her to be exposed! Max thought back to when Tinga traded her life for her son's.. Something had gone wrong, the trade didn't go as promised. Lydecker seemed sincere when he said "It's not me!" He had been upstaged by someone, and Max knew what effect insubordination had on Deck's disposition. He was bringing Madame X down.  
  
"Did you oversee the entire Manticore operation, from the beginning?"  
Lydecker remained silent, staring ahead motionlessly.  
  
"Did you?! Did you stand by, directing the conception of these monsters?!"  
The mob called for an answer, more thrown objects hit Lydecker and his men.  
"We demand justice! You don't deserve to live, after what you've done!" The crowd roared deafeningly. They began to chant.  
  
Lydecker started shouting. "It was for the good of us all!" There was not fear in his eyes, but anger and outrage.   
"Don't you understand?! I could have spared your loved ones!" The speakers screeched in feedback.  
He was being led in front of a line of armed men.   
"We created soldiers for the purpose of sending them to war, instead of you! Simply help me find them, return them to me! I can fix them, you need me, I know how to control them!"   
The horde booed. Lydecker was blindfolded, as were the other restrained men.  
"You have no idea what went into creating them! You have no idea! Years of my life, years of research that cannot be replaced!! All done for you, for your protection--"  
  
"Who will protect us now? From them?! From people like you?!" Someone in the crowd shouted.  
  
There were sequential clicks of many guns being cocked. The crowd fell silent. Lydecker stood stiffly, his face ashen, expressionless.  
The squad fired. Bodies crumpled, blood spattered across the wall behind them.  
  
Max couldn't believe her eyes. The embodiment of a lifetime of hatred, gone. In the blink of an eye. She felt revenge, she felt fury, she felt anguish.. for the loss of the most important link to her past. She could no longer demand explanations of him, she couldn't ask him who her mother was, she couldn't ask him, simply, why?  
  
She turned off the TV and went to Logan's office.  
  
"Lydecker's dead." She said flatly.  
  
Logan spun around. "Dead?" he repeated, stunned.  
  
"Broadcast live on primetime.. The latest episode of The People's Court.." Max's eyes glistened. She didn't understand what she was feeling,.. so many sentiments were raging at once...  
  
Logan took her hand. "Max, I don't know what to say.. " Congratulations? he wondered. I'm sorry? "If they were able to capture Lydecker, it's all the more reason we really need to get you out of here, fast.." She looked down at their hands. He thought she would let go, but she held on, squeezed his hand gently for a minute, her eyes closed. Then she turned away.   
  
"Did you find anything?"  
  
Logan tried to answer, but his voice cracked. He cleared his throat. "Yeah.. Uh.. But not as much as I would like to know. In fact, there is no physical or electronic documentation of the Tyrell Corps anywhere. All the information I have is entirely through word of mouth. And there was this..." Logan pressed some buttons and a fax began printing. He held the page out to Max.  
  
It was a copy of a small leaflet. It said, in ordinary lettering:  
  
"Numbers can be such a pain in the neck, can't they?  
We are waiting, brothers and sisters.  
Come join the Tyrell Corps.  
It's not an easy thing to meet your maker."  
  
Underneath were printed some bizarre symbols.  
  
"These were distributed today, scattered around large public venues across the country. One of my informants heard of them before, she thinks they are a highly secretive vigilante group of some kind."  
  
Max stared at the symbols at the bottom.  
"This is written in a secret code, a syllabic writing system, known only by those involved with Manticore" she said. "It's a location in Wyoming."  
  
Logan whistled softly.   
"So, it's either a trap, or someone trying to help you and the others. Where is it?"  
  
"It says.. Lovell, WY. Go East on 14, north on 37. Under the eyes."  
They were silent for a while.  
  
"Well, that's uncanny, isn't it? I wonder what that means? You don't suppose they know about Eyes Only? No, probably not. I guess it would be foolish to tell you not to go.." Logan said. "I'd come with you, but.. you know.. you don't need me slowing you down. Besides, someone has to stick around and look out for the downtrodden."  
  
Max smiled. How Loganish of him, she thought.  
  
"You don't mind if I leave my stuff here, do you? I'll just take a few things along.. Good thing I left my bike in your basement.." she mused.  
  
Logan sighed. So this was it, she was leaving. He knew better than to try and change her mind, but he couldn't stop his feelings from welling up. He longed to hold her, to selfishly keep her with him..   
  
"I'll be fine Logan, really.." She misread his expression. "I can sneak past the checkpoints.. Its only a little bit more difficult than blasting my way straight through."  
  
"I know, I know. It's just that.. " he stared into her deep brown eyes. "I'll miss you Max. A lot." She looked into his piercing blue eyes, a lump rising in her throat.   
"Me too." she whispered.  
She slowly leaned over, wrapped her arms around him, lowered herself into his lap, pressed her face into his neck.. God, he smelled good! Her friend.. her confidant.. She felt his arms embracing her.. She struggled to hold back the sobs aching to come out.. They sat holding each other as the light outside faded.   



	8. 8

In the dark of night, Max loaded her bike. Logan had insisted that she take his cell phone with her; she thought it was the least she could do if it would let him would worry less. She smirked to herself, remembering how he ran his hand through his hair for the thousandth time. She imagined returning to Seattle, and finding that Logan had absentmindedly rubbed all the hair off of his head. She giggled, then became somber. Would she ever return? She put on her goggles, and sped off. Stories above, Logan pressed his forehead against the window, and watched her motorcycle disappear.  
  
She carried her bike through the woods around the checkpoints, or took side street detours. Several times in the city, she was asked to halt for a routine barcode check. Most of the time, she just sped past, outracing the shabby civilian vehicles. A few times she had to fight her way past. Finally, she was out on the freeway, anonymous among the few trucks driving the graveyard shift.  
  
Hours went by, the sun rose. The landscape around her became more mountainous and rugged. Turning north on highway 37, she took in the yellow and red rock formations and stunted pine trees, the blue rivers slicing through. The scenery was gorgeous, the spicy scent of warm pine drifted through the air. After about 5 miles, she saw what must be the landmark-two large holes, side by side, that went straight through the top of a high rounded hill. She drove off road as far as she could, then walked her bike to the foot of the karst. She didn't see any signs of human life.  
"Hello?" she called. She heard her voice echo across the hills and canyons. She turned around, surveying the area. She looked back and-- ! There, where she had first looked, was a red arrow nailed to a tree! She hadn't heard a sound, she knew it wasn't there the first time she looked..   
"Look, there's no need to be shy, I don't bite.. hard.. " Max called. Nothing answered back. Hmm. She guardedly walked in the direction indicated by the arrow.  
"How do I know how far to go?" she asked the nearest tree.  
There, smack in front of her, was another arrow on the ground, pointing the way. Damn! Were they motion triggered? She hadn't really been paying attention to the ground, but there was no way she would have missed a big red arrow.  
"Ok, this is kind of freaking me out.. Could you please come out now?" The wind blew through the trees. Further away she heard a bird twittering. Max sighed. She stashed her bike under some pine boughs, put her backpack on, and followed the second arrow. And the next, and the next, as they kept mysteriously appearing whenever she looked away. She walked for nearly 10 miles, deeper into the mountain range. Soon, she was hiking along a path next to a deep ravine. The rock face dropped away dramatically to her right.   
Then-- she heard the nearly imperceptible sound of a footstep ahead of her. Her eyes narrowed, focusing into the distance, and caught a glimpse of a form disappearing around the bend in the path ahead. She walked faster. Around the next corner, she saw a dark opening in the side of the rock, it looked like the entrance to a cave.  
  
She ducked inside, and found a rope attached to the side of the cave wall. She followed the rope, even though she could see in the dark, the rope presented the path she guessed she should follow. Other tunnels forked off and twisted away into the dark. She saw light flickering further on, coming up from a hole in the ground. She saw a ladder nailed in place, and climbed down cautiously, every fiber tensed for unexpected danger. She found herself standing in a large cavern, lit by torches. Wires ran along the ceiling and walls of the cavern, and away through several tunnels which connected all around.  
  
"Hello, esteemed sister. Finally, you grace us with your presence?" Sarcasm practically dripped off the walls as the voice echoed. She looked around swiftly, and saw someone standing in an archway.  
  
"We have long awaited your arrival.. What kept you?" He talked as if he were on the verge of drowning. His voice was resonant, but was filled with gurgling and wet sounds.. She was close enough now to see him clearly. His clothes were obviously homemade, the fabric was a rough woven texture. One arm was too small, too thin.. His lips were smeared across an uneven head, slightly pointed on one side, his jaw seemed longer on the other side, causing his head to resemble a parallelogram. Saliva trickled down one side of his mouth, which he continually wiped away. But his eyes- they were sharp and clear, unrelenting.. Deep gray.. a colorless fire burning in them..   
"Welcome to Valhalla."  



	9. 9

"Who are you?" Max demanded.  
  
"What, don't you recognize a member of your own family? Didn't they tell you about your siblings, back in Manticore? I'm hurt." He mocked, bitterness underlying his words.   
"Why don't we start with you? I assume you are one of the rebel X-5s. Tsk, tsk. They had such high hopes for your group.."  
Max remained in a fighting stance. He came closer, she allowed him to lift up her hair.  
  
"332960073452.. Ahh, Maxie! The benevolent one. They never could beat it out of you, could they?"  
  
She swatted his hand away. "How the hell do you know anything about me?" she said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Dear girl, I am an X-4. I know something of the ways of Manticore life."   
Max looked unconvinced.   
"Impressive, aren't I? Intimidating in my perfection? Surely, I strike fear into your heart.. I am, after all, what you called a Nomlie.. Although, others call me Malachai now."  
  
Max gulped, and resisted the urge to back away. He saw the apprehension that flickered across her face, and pain shimmered in his gray eyes.   
  
"Yes, Max." His voice became severe. "Am I really so frightful? A child of misfortune, one of the legions they casually played God with. Splice a little here, tinker a little there.. Darn, the recipe isn't quite right. Destroy the whole batch!"  
  
Max said "All we knew was terrible screaming, scary sounds coming from the lower levels. We weren't allowed down there.. One time, Lydecker made us walk through the containment ward. Something tried to grab us.." Max looked Malachai over again. "And they let you live?"  
  
"There were many on the inside, who couldn't allow themselves to watch babies, children, being slaughtered. They thought they were being.. compassionate.." he spat out the last word.   
  
Max didn't know if it was contemptuous emphasis, or a result of his malformations.   
She wondered why he hadn't drained his veins of blood long ago.. He tiled his head slightly, as if listening..   
  
"Oh, many times, I wanted to. More than anything. To leave this suffocating world, to find peace at last.. to just.. rest.. just feel nothing.. just cease.. stop breathing.. that was what I longed for. But I have found my reasons to stay. I'm already here, I may as well make the most of the time I have. it will end soon enough, on its own.." He turned and began walking down one of the passages.  
  
Max realized that she had not spoken aloud. She wondered.. wondered, .. becoming conscious of her own thoughts, and tried to stop, but the unconscious stream continued in the back of her mind. Can he hear my thoughts? Ahead, he chuckled, the sound bouncing off the hard walls, echoing away into the darkness.. He looked back at her, his eyes bright, probing.. His breathing sounded labored, watery.. He continued on, his uneven and stuttering pace was faster than she expected. Oddly graceful, almost as if he were performing the steps to some unknown dance..  
Max followed, trying to take it all in, trying not to think loudly, if that were possible.  
Again Malachai laughed. "No use, Max. I can hear you clear as a bell."  
  
"Well, can you just, .. stop? I'd like to think privately, if you don't mind."  
He grinned back at her. It took Max a few seconds to realize he was grinning; the effect on his face was a bit unsettling.  
"Very well."  
The walked for a few minutes.  
  
"How do I know you aren't eavesdropping?"  
  
"You'll just have to trust me Max."  
  
"Are there others here.. like you?" Max asked uneasily.  
  
"There are some." There was a teasing tone in his voice. He was obviously enjoying her discomfort.  
  
"Others escaped too?"  
  
"They smuggled us out, but did little else. We had to make our own way.. Who, do you think, would want children like us? As the older ones survived, they came back to help the newly freed. Eventually, our little community took shape. Here is where you can stay, should you choose to."   
  
He indicated a wooden door on their right. Max stepped inside and found a bed, dresser, mirror, and a strange light glowing on a table. She dropped her backpack on floor, and sat on the bed. It was surprisingly soft. 


End file.
